Merchandise display hooks are used extensively to display items of merchandise, for example, in a retail store. Typically, a plurality of display hooks are each individually mounted on a generally vertical display fixture, such as a conventional slat wall or slot wall, wire grid, bar rack or pegboard. The use of multiple display hooks on the display fixture provides an aesthetic and organized display area that allows prospective customers to view the items of merchandise without assistance from sales personnel.
In the case of higher cost merchandise items, such as personal care items like razor blade cartridges, merchandise display solutions must balance the benefits of convenient access that attracts prospective customers against the theft opportunities presented by that access. In the case of a conventional merchandise display hook in which merchandise items are suspended from a straight merchandise rod, a common theft scenario is for a thief to collectively slide multiple merchandise items forward off of the dispensing end of the merchandise rod (commonly referred to as a “sweep”) and into a portable carrying receptacle such as a booster bag.
In this regard, anti-sweep mechanisms have been developed to impede the removal of multiple merchandise items from a merchandise display hook within a short time period. However, these systems typically suffer from one or more of the following deficiencies: they require investment in customized merchandise display systems that may be expensive or bulky; they lack durability over time; they make it excessively inconvenient for prospective customers to view or remove merchandise items; and/or they do not sufficiently impede sweeping of multiple merchandise items. Accordingly, there is a need for an anti-sweep mechanism for a merchandise display hook that may address one or more of these deficiencies or other shortcomings of known display solutions.